SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS, HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE CUMBERLAND,

No. 257. Chattanooga, Tenn., September 27, 1863

* * * * * *

VI. On the return of Major-General Rousseau from an important mission for the benefit of this army, he resumed the command of his division. Brig. General A. Baird being thus relieved of this division, the general commanding tenders to him his thanks for the prudence and ability which he displayed while in command, for the unflinching courage and ability with which he carried his troops into action on the 19th and maintained his position during the terrific fight of the 20th in the glorious battle of the Chickamauga.

* * * * * * *

By command of Major-General Rosecrans:

H. M. CIST,

Lieutenant, and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

Numbers 19.

Reports of Captain George A. Kensel, Fifth U. S. Artillery, Chief of Artillery.

HEADQUARTERS BATTERY H, FIFTH U. S. ARTILLERY, Chattanooga, Tenn., October 2, 1863.

MAJOR: I have the honor to make the following report of the part taken by the batteries in the First Division, Fourteenth Army Corps, in the battle of Chickamauga:

As regards Battery H, Fifth Artillery, I will have recourse to the brief report of Lieutenant Fessenden and the remarks obtained from him in conversation on the subject. The battery went into action on the 19th of September, under command of First Lieutenant H. M. Burnham, full and complete, four Napoleon guns and two 10-pounder Parrotts. Shortly after noon, being placed in position in a dense wood, it fired 16 rounds of canister, was overpowered by an overwhelming force of the enemy, and, left without support, fell into the hands of the enemy. The success of the enemy was only momentary, as very soon our forces charged on them and regained the battery. Lieutenant Burnham was killed, Lieutenant Ludlow made prisoner, and Lieutenant Fessenden, slightly wounded, made his escape. Four non-commissioned officers and 8 men killed; 3 non-commissioned officers and 11 men missing, and 2 non-commissioned officers and 13 men wounded.

Lieutenant Fessenden, with the assistance of Captain Dod, of the Fifteenth Infantry, removed the guns to the rear. He was forced to abandon his caissons to use the limbers on the pieces. There are now in the battery four Napoleon guns, complete; two 10-pounder Parrott guns, one without a limber, and battery wagon and forge complete.

The Fourth Indiana Battery entered the field with six guns and six caissons, under command of Lieutenant Flansburg. At the first advance made by the enemy the battery lost 1 officer missing, 1 man killed, and 9 men wounded. The enemy captured five of the guns,